To See Within
by ASJEBEESCA
Summary: A call for help leads to some interesting events. B/S and E/J pairing Please read and review!!
1. Call For Help

Disclaimer: We do not own any of Mutant X or its characters, no matter how much we wished we did. Only Nora and Melissa are our original characters.  
  
This a work of collaboration. It could not have been written without our group's immeasurable talents. We hope everyone enjoys our story :) Also, don't forget to R&R!  
  
To See Within  
  
Nora Ireland couldn't believe her rotten luck. Her lungs burned and she forced her legs to just a little bit faster. She hadn't expected this to happen. Nora had finally been able to contact someone in the Underground and had scheduled a meeting. She had gone to the meeting full of confidence, but the GSA must have been tapping her call. Next thing she knew, these three suits were there and now they were chasing her.  
  
She wondered what had happened to the guy she was supposed to meet. Nora hoped fervently that he hadn't been caught. It was bad enough that she might get herself caught, but for someone else to be captured because of her, especially a member of Mutant X, was unforgivable. Of all the places she had to pick, she had to pick a deserted area. Nora tried shaking them off, but they were relentless. She couldn't keep this up forever and was sure that this time they would get her.  
  
Just when she thought she was going to collapse from pure exhaustion, she felt a body slam into her from the side. It was almost like being tackled by a football player, and she let out a small shriek as whoever it was wrapped her in their arms and practically carried her into an alley. When she regained her senses, she was leaning against the wall of the alley and panting, oxygen searing her lungs. She looked up and got a good look at her rescuer.  
  
He was tall and dressed in all black. His hair was curly and he was also older than she was. She didn't recognize him, but she guessed that this was the guy from Mutant X that she was supposed to have met. Relief swept over her, as she was now able to confirm that he hadn't been captured. He took a few seconds to catch his breath and slowly turned to her, his features were warm and almost paternalistic.  
  
"You okay?" He asked still trying to steady his breath. Before she could answer, however, the three GS agents rounded the corner. The expression on her face must have warned him, because he looked at her and turned quickly.  
  
Adam stood ready to fight off the GS agents, even thought there were only three, he knew he needed back up, "Shalimar, I need you and Brennan to trace the signal on my comlink and get her fast! There are three GS agents her right now, but I'm sure there are more on the way!"  
  
"We're on our way Adam," Shalimar's voice sounded eager to fight off any agents that might be left when they got there.  
  
Two agents surrounded Adam and lunged at him. He quickly rolled out of the way and the two dumb agents butted heads and fell unconscious. Adam turned around to help Nora who was struggling with her agent. She threw a punch and connected with the agents' face making him angry. The agent formed a fireball in his hands and threw it at her, but before it hit its mark, it turned to ice and fell to the ground.  
  
The agent tried to jump back a bit but his feet were frozen to the ground. Adam and Nora both turned to see who had come to their rescue. A very attractive blonde leaned comfortably against the wall. Slowly she approached Adam and Nora.  
  
"It looked like you could use the help," holding out her hand she tossed them both a warm smile despite her chilling powers. "My name is Melissa. I'm an elemental-psionic and I want to work for Mutant X."  
  
Adam and Nora just stared at the new girl as Shalimar and Brennan came running towards them.  
  
"Well I guess you didn't need our help," Shalimar said as she and Brennan walked up to them. "Hey Adam, who's she?"  
  
"Well, this is Melissa and she came in the nick of time. We owe her our thanks.  
  
"So, you want to join Mutant X, well so does everyone else we meet," Shalimar said a low growl in her voice. Melissa looked at as if to say 'You heard that?'  
  
"Don't mind her, she hears a lot of things, really good hearing," Brennan said.  
  
"Oh, okay," Melissa said as she helped Adam off the ground.  
  
Brennan leaned in and said, "Don't mind her, she's territorial. She'll lighten up."  
  
Everyone turned their attention to the agent who was still frozen to the ground. He had another agent trying to get him loose. It a few minutes, but then he broke free. He was looking for another fight but when he saw that there were more of them, he ran like a sissy.  
  
"Yeah, you better run and keep on running because when Eckhart failed, well let's just say it was nice knowing you!!" Brennan yelled.  
  
"Lets go back to Sanctuary," Adam started. "And that means all of us," he said talking to the girls, so they got to the Double Helix and were on their way but not before 'blindfolding' the two girls.  
  
Once they were in the Helix, Adam contacted Jesse, "Jesse, we're in the Helix and on our way back."  
  
"Good, did you find her?"  
  
"Yeah and we're bringing her back with us, as well as someone else."  
  
"Were you planning on telling me who she is, or are you going to leave me in the dark?"  
  
"Her name's Melissa, I'll tell you more when we get there," then he turned off the screen. 


	2. Sparks of Jealousy

Disclaimer: Same as before, unfortunately :(  
  
"Was that Adam?" Emma said as she casually walked toward Jesse, who had just finished talking to Adam.  
  
"Yeah, he said they were on their way back," Jesse said as he turned away from the computer to look at Emma. Jesse stared at Emma with an amused look on his face, "Apparently they're bringing someone else back too. Her name's Melissa, but that's all he told me."  
  
"Did they say when they were going to get here?" Emma took a few more steps towards him.  
  
"No, he didn't say how close he was. Why?"  
  
"Just wondering if we were going to be interrupted, if we did this," Emma leaned in to kiss him. When they're lips were almost touching, Shalimar entered the lab.  
  
"We're back!" Shalimar strode over to her two friends who weren't very happy that they came back at this point. Adam, Brennan, and two females entered the lab behind her.  
  
"This is Nora, the New Mutant I was supposed to pick up. And this young lady is Melissa, she save our lives."  
  
Melissa stared at Jesse thinking about how hot her looked, when she snapped out of it and shook his hand, "I'm an elemental-psionic. I can make my body heat go as cold as I want and control ice to do whatever I want. As for the psionic part of me, I'm a telepath. I can read minds, hear thoughts. Just by looking at a picture or if I have enough information on somebody, I can locate them with a single thought. I know you hear this all the time, but really want to join. Please don't send me to the Underground, because I won't go there."  
  
Emma noticed Melissa staring at Jesse, and her blood started to boil. She only hoped that Adam would tell her to get lost; that Mutant X didn't need another elemental, or psionic for that matter. Jesse stared at Melissa thinking how great she looked. Melissa began to blush and then Jesse looked at Emma and then quickly turned his attention to Nora.  
  
"So, and this must be Nora. Welcome to Mutant X."  
  
"Thank you," Nora said taking his hand and shaking it. Shalimar and Brennan took the two women and showed them around. That left Adam, Jesse and Emma alone. Adam looked at Emma and excused himself. Jesse looked at Emma.  
  
"What?" he said.  
  
"You know what," Emma said. "What did you say or think to her?" She then asked quickly. He looked at her for a very long time.  
  
Emma stared back at Jesse, he finally gave in, "I just thought she looked nice that's all."  
  
Emma raised one eyebrow then leaned in close, "Where were we?"  
  
They kissed. Emma soon broke off the kiss, she wanted to leave him wanting more. They stared into each other's eyes. Meanwhile, Shalimar and Brennan finished showing the two girls around and brought them back to the lab because Adam wanted to run his usual tests on them. After making sure the girls were ok, Brennan and Shalimar went to the gardens to talk.  
  
* * *  
  
Brennan and Shalimar stood in the garden, 'talking', "Okay, what are you doing," Brennan asked, smiling.  
  
"Oh, just waiting for you to ask me out for dinner," Shalimar answered.  
  
"Okay, Shalimar, would you like to go out to dinner tonight?" Brennan said.  
  
"Well my schedule is kinda' crowded, but, okay!"  
  
"Great, how's seven?"  
  
"Sounds good to me."  
  
* * *  
  
"You bother are pretty powerful," Adam said to Nora and Melissa, they both smiled like the Cheshire cat.  
  
"Thanks, I've had plenty of practice. What about you Melissa?" Nora asked.  
  
"I guess," Melissa answered. She looked Adam straight in the eye, "Do I get to join Mutant X or not? If not then I'll be on my way. I refuse to go into the Underground. I've watched Mutant X for a long time. Seeing you guys fight the GSA, Eckhart, and helping other New Mutants is something I've always wanted to do. My powers would be a great asset to you guys, can you at least think about keeping me here?"  
  
Adam look from Melissa to Nora, "For now I would like it if you both stayed here. We'll do a trial run. Get settled in, for the next week this will be your home. If any missions come up I want you guys to take part in them, show us what you can do. At the end of the week, I'll decide if you should stay and help us. Does that sound fair?"  
  
Melissa squealed with joy and gave Adam a big hug, "Thank you!!!!"  
  
Nora looked at Adam and said, "Where are we going to stay?"  
  
"Jesse, Emma, come in here please," Adam called. When they walked into the room Adam said, "Emma show Nora to a guest room and then show her around the rest of Sanctuary. Jesse, I need you to show Melissa a guest room and then giver her the full tour also."  
  
Melissa smiled as Adam announced her tour guide. Maybe she could get to know him a little better. Emma frowned as she sensed Melissa's feelings. She left the room with Nora but gave Jesse a quick kiss on the cheek just to make a point. Melissa saw Emma and smiled. Who cares if that other New Mutant liked him? Jess was going to show her around Sanctuary and she was going to enjoy it. 


	3. Concerns

Disclaimer: Some things never change. Only Nora and Melissa are original  
  
Melissa smiled the whole time Jesse showed her around. 'He is not bad looking, I think I'm going to like it here,' she said to herself.  
  
"What, did you say something?" Jesse asked.  
  
"Yeah, I said the place looks great," She replied.  
  
"Oh, yeah Adam designed it," Jesse started to tell her. "Well, here is where you'll be sleeping," he said showing her a guestroom.  
  
* * *  
  
Emma kept looking behind her wondering what the other two were up too. Nora noticed and asked what was wrong, "Nothing, I was just wondering where everyone else was," Emma answered. "Well, anyway, here we are."  
  
Emma opened the door and showed her the room, and then she took Nora to see where they ate and then the dojo.  
  
* * *  
  
"Are you sure you'll be comfortable here?" Jesse asked as Melissa walked across the room.  
  
"Yes, thank you," Melissa said in a 'dreamy' kind of way as she looked at Jesse.  
  
"You okay?" Jesse asked and Melissa laughed.  
  
"I'm fine, I just get lost in my thoughts sometimes," she said and smiled.  
  
"Oh okay. I'm going to see Emma, call me if you need anything," Jesse said and walked away.  
  
Melissa sat on the bed and sighed. It seemed it might take a little more to get his attention. That was all right, she had all week and maybe longer. She lay back on the bed and smiled, this was going to fun, and she really loved it here already.  
  
* * *  
  
Adam walked out of the lab, his test analysis finished. He was running the results in his mind, turning the problem over and over to find a solution. Melissa's abilities were impressive and she had them under pretty good control, Nora on the other hand, she was the one that he was worrying about. As he walked to the dojo, the first thing he noticed was that it was unusually quiet.  
  
Looking under the dojo, where the reflecting pool was located he found Nora. She was sitting at the edge, her legs draw up to her chest and her chin resting on her knees. She had wrapped her arms around herself as if she were trying to make herself into as tight a ball as possible.  
  
He walked over to her, but her concentration was so intent on the pool that she didn't notice him. This was his first chance to take a real good look at her. She had dark red hair that was styled into a long French braid going down to the middle of her back. She was covered from head to toe practically. She wore thin gloves, long sleeve turtleneck, and jeans that looked a little to long for her legs. The cuffs were worn from scraping the ground.  
  
He touched her shoulder gently and she jolted violently. She calmed a little when she saw who it was. Adam knelt down, "I didn't mean to frighten you. I wanted to see how you were doing."  
  
"I'm okay," She slid an inch away from him. Adam frowned softly and sat down on the ledge.  
  
"Am I making you uncomfortable?"  
  
"No, its not that, its just that," she fumbled for the right words still holding herself in the curled up position. "Don't get me wrong, I like hanging out with people, and I like having friends, especially when they don't think of me as a freak or anything. Every time I touch someone, it almost feels like I become that person. I know everything that they know, feel everything that they've felt their entire lives. I know they're deepest, darkest secrets, things no one should know about. It takes a while for it to fade away, but even then I still know the things I know. I can't touch anyone because of this damned curse."  
  
"In a way, I'm responsible for that."  
  
"No, you're not. You couldn't have known. You were fooled as much as my parents were. I have you too thank for saving my life back there. If you hadn't shown up, I don't know what I might have done," Nora smiled sweetly at him and he smiled back.  
  
"I only try to do the right thing."  
  
"And that is the difference between you and Eckhart," she rocked back and forth lightly. He gently touched her shoulder again and held his hand there. She stopped rocking, but relaxed under his touch. Adam smiled again, patted her shoulder, and stood up.  
  
"Did you happen to see where Emma went?"  
  
"Yeah, I think she went into her room."  
  
"You okay alone for a little while?" Adam asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just wanted to watch the water for a little while, helps me calm my thoughts."  
  
"That's the point," he walked away and headed towards Emma's room. He knocked on the door and got a terse 'Come in,' and he tentatively opened the door. The tension in the room was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Emma was sitting on her bed with her arms crossed, and Jesse was standing to the side. Adam had a feeling that he had just walked in on the middle of a fight. 


End file.
